By writing "overwhelmed" I meant, that bass could have such strong presense, that you could miss some details in mids frequency (highs are safe), but sound isn't muddy or flat at all. I would say it's still better than most earphones I've heard ;)

Ah sorry, still working on headfi lingo... haha thank you

That's great, I think this is what I'm after then! Had to re-read some reviews but I've realised xbas are more coloured/fun sounding than reference like the ue900s - though people are saying that the ue900 aren't that flat either so I am very curious to what these experts listen to.. hopefully I will find a store that'll let me audition these one dayy

i worked on professional radio FM stations, and despite being an audio fan, until recently got into the headphones world. I own Sennheiser CX 985 (Beautifull craft ¡) Denon AH-C300 (odd design ¡) Denon 260r and Sony XBA-3ip.

From my testings using my preferred track (as a refference for my taste): Astrud Gilberto´s Girl from ipanema (Apple Lossless from original CD on iPhone 5) i concluded the most clear, detailed, refined sound for my particular taste is the Sony XBA-3.

So, the logical ? step is to look after the XBA-H3 model, im wondering if any XBA-3 user/fan has already compared it against the new XBA-H3.

Even further, does anyone has compared the new breed against the XBA-4 ??

Would it be worth to go first for the XBA-4 ??

Appreciate your comments and sorry for my bad writting, english is not my main language.

Greetings from México ¡

PD. Looks like my ears and mind really preffer the BA stuff. Yes i could use a little bit more bass on Sony´s XBA-3.

This is a bit of a derailment, but for those that had/have the X30 and X40, would you say they're on the same level as Heir 4 or UE900?

I havent heard the ue900, but I did own the heir 4a and XBA 40 at the same time and the XBA40 sounded astronomically better to my ears. A shame really considering how much more expensive the 4a are. It is a horrible iem IMO.

I have a preference for clarity and resolution, coupled with smooth, liquid midrange and bass heft.

My impression of the XHA-H1 is that it is quite modern in its presentation. It goes deep in the bass, no problem reaching below audible range, without roll off (I tested this with test tones). Really low bass pulses in trance or other genres are present, and contribute to the musical presentation. In terms of tonality, standing bass for instance does quite well. The lower registers feel somewhat emphasized, but not disturbingly so. This seems to be in vogue, and I personally think it is a reasonable trade-off since the physical experience of the bass is absent with headphones.

The treble is smooth. Too rolled off in my opinion. Trumpets lack blare, cymbals lack crash, violins lack incisiveness in the attack. A bit. It should always be noted that the treble is where the individualities of the pinna (outer ear) is the largest, differences can easily be 10dB between individuals. For my ears, this makes the HBA-1 very easily listenable, never sharp, but then again a bit a bit lacking in air and attack. Tyll Hertsens would love it. :) Your ears WILL be different in this range.

Overall the presentation is smooth enough that the listener will likely be able to tune in to them and adjust to their peculiarities.

They do offer good transparency and insight into complex music, implying that there are no major issues with IM or other distortion.

So resolution is good, but not, compared to the highest end, outstanding.

Overall - pretty damn good and great value for money in my experience. Not quite my cup of tea in the treble, where my ears would simply have preferred higher mid-treble levels in order to open the presentation up a bit more.

Caveats - I haven't tried the phones with the different supplied tips since I got great isolation with the default ones. I'm curious about what benefits the foamy tips bring, if any. I'll experiment a bit to see what happens but do not expect the sound to change all that much given that I already have a good seal.